Sunday, June 22, 2014

Magical comic characters are coming to the big and small screen, and it will be interesting to see how they are handled. Scarlet Witch is of course among the the new Avengers slated to appear in the upcoming sequel. Hopefully her powers will be clearly defined, as they can be a bit murky in the comics at times. Doctor Strange has found a director in Scott Derrickson, and we should hear about casting soon. On TV, I saw a trailer for Constantine that included Doctor Fate's helmet, so it seems that show will be a way to introduce more of the magical corners of the DCU. I'm a fan of all of these heroes on the printed page, and I hope their live action counterparts are just as enjoyable.

I started buying comics 1 issue before JLA started doing 100 pg spectaculars every issue. This is one of the reasons why. JLA, JSA, special characters of one of the teams that otherwise might not get a story... This is one of my favorite covers ever from you Ross!

Congratulations on 800 covers. I love that the Scarlet Witch is going to be in the Avengers sequel I am just worried about them changing her powers and costume to much. I would love to see her classic costume in the movie.

I remember CBS doing a two-hour TV-movie about Dr. Strange, circa 1978! With Sir John Mills playing "Thomas Lindmer" (who didn't like Wong calling him "Ancient One"); and Jessica Walter as Morgan Le Fay. It was definitely and delightfully creepy (in a low-tech sort of way).

@Anonymous: I haven't seen that Dr. Strange movie since it originally broadcast. I had heard that it (or a shelved sequel) had been packaged for home video under another name (Modred?), but Wikipedia claims that it saw release on VHS as "Dr. Strange". I remember colored smoke being used in lieu of animated effects and the trademark Ditko window frame casting a shadow that revealed a hidden artifact. As a kid I thought it was neat that there was a practical function to that weirdly shaped window, but as an adult I thought that Dr. Strange needing a physical hiding place for his tools to be weirder than having an oddly decorative window!

He had a storage room for his trophies and stuff in the 1980's comics. So, I don't see a secret hiding place, in case of emergencies (like some mystical enemy out to steal them), as being _that_ far-fetched.